How Different It Could Have Been
by Lady Lupus
Summary: When Naruto is young he is found badly beaten in the forest, shocked by the treatment his child received, the captain of the ANBU division, Osamu takes in the young jinchuuriki. Now that Naruto has proper training, he proves himself to be quite the capable shinobi, a real genius of his age group.
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: When Naruto is young he is found badly beaten in the forest, shocked by the treatment his child received, the captain of the ANBU division, Osamu takes in the young jinchuuriki. Now that Naruto has proper training, he proves himself to be quite the capable shinobi, a real genius of his age group. After his academy years, the threat of the Akatsuki pushes Naruto and those around him to test their skills. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, the characters or their abilities, only the plot.**

**Warnings(?): This will ****NOT ****be a Narusaku or Naruhina story, as of this moment I have not decided on a pairing. Naruto will be a powerhouse in this story. Itachi is not a missing nin, he was not the one to kill the clan. There will be OOC-ness and minor OC roles. The OC introduced in this chapter will have a significant role, but he is the only one, others will be minor roles **

Osamu Ito slowly dragged his feet along the dirt path through the forest, the last mission had certainly been a long one, instead of sending a normal group of ANBU the Hokage had decided to send the captain along with his lieutenants. Though Osamu had already rid himself of his cloak and uniform, the owl painted mask stayed firmly in place on his face.

The shinobi walking through the forest was not really a particularly noticeable shinobi. He had short inky black hair that was matched perfectly by his eye color. While most ANBU had alibis outside of their special ops life, Osamu did not, being captain made it next to impossible for him to keep up appearances.

The black haired shinobi continued to trudge through the forest, not really looking to see if he was going, but sensing chakra around him so that he can tell if someone gets to close. While walking Osamu felt a huge chakra, it felt scared, and hurt. The ANBU captain rushed towards in and was surprised to see the chakra coming from a young child, a mere toddler was emitting this large amount of energy.

"Blond hair, whisker marks on his cheeks… this must be Minato-sama's child." He muttered to himself. The young boy was badly bruised, and looked like he had been thoroughly beaten. Osamu's eyebrows furrowed; he bent down and picked up the young boy before running as fast as he could to the Hokage's office. While he was running he quickly threw on his ANBU flak jacket and white cape.

Instead of going through the door to the Hokage tower, Osamu instead went straight through the window. "Pardon the interruption Hokage-sama. I found the young jinchuuriki unconscious in the forest, it appears he has been badly beaten, while he is not in life threatening condition, he should require a medical ninja's attention, I have already sent for one. Hokage-sama, I feel like this should be dealt with immediately." The captain explain and Sarutobi's eyes widened.

"Where was he?" Was the only question the Hokage asked. For a while he had refused to believe his villagers did this, but seeing the badly bruised body he was forced to believe.

"Hokage-sama, the boy was in the middle of the forest, I was on my way to head-quarters when I found him." The captain replied curtly. At that moment the medic-nin finally arrived and began treating Naruto. "Hokage-sama, I wish to bring Naruto to the ABU headquarters, where no one will attack him, he may grow as a ninja there, with many to teach him. I will teach him about the legacy that was left to him, without informing him of his birth family." Osamu requested, it was a far-fetched request, but a viable one.

The Hokage looked up at the ANBU captain and nodded, this was a decision he would not consult with the council on; he had made a promise to Minato and Kushina that he would protect their son with all of his power. Sarutobi gestured for Osamu to follow him into his private library; while in there he pulled many books off of the shelves, some of them containing information about Minato's jutsus, others containing information on Kushina's. The final books were about the jutsu style that the Uzumaki clan specialized in, along with notes about their kekkei genkai.

Osamu contained these books in a sealing scroll and went back to the Hokage's office to collect Naruto. Once the small blond was in his arms he used the body flicker technique to get out of the main part of the city; he swiftly made his way to the headquarters.

Inside the ANBU headquarters, any soldier who did not want to remain inside the town had their own rooms. Osamu brought Naruto up to his own room, which was a separate condo from the rest. He gently set the young blond down on the bed in the spare room and performed the 'Kage Bunshin no Jutsu'. Osamu sent his clone down to the barracks to call a meeting so that he could explain about his adoptive son.

**Timeskip: Two years**

A five year old Naruto smiled widely as he held his adoptive father's hand. The young blond was beginning his first day at the academy and he could not be more excited. The young blond studied his jutsu every day, and every day he got better. When the duo arrived at the Academy, Osamu brought Naruto into the class and checked him in with Iruka. The smiling blond sat down in with a young girl around the same age. She had a shocking head of pink hair and piercing green eyes.

When all the students had finally arrived, Iruka called them all up one by one to introduce themselves. There was a long line of people. Finally Iruka signaled Naruto to come up.

"Hello! My name is Naruto Uzumaki, I am from the Uzumaki clan, formally of the land of waves, my favorite things include training with my father, and practicing trying to unlock my kekkei genkai." Naruto said and some people glanced up at them, either never having heard of the Uzumaki clan, or they knew that the clan was supposed to be extremely powerful, not in the way that the Uchiha clan or the Hyuuga clan were, but the Uzumaki clan almost always produced geniuses.

**Another time skip: two years, again.**

Osamu Ito had been called into the Hokage's office on one of his off days, Naruto was in the Academy so all he had to do was paper work. Osamu checked in with Sarutobi's secretary and made his way into the office. After greetings were exchanged and Osamu had been seated, Sarutobi explained why he was called here.

"Naruto is progressing too fast for the Academy, we have already moved him up levels and he just keeps progressing. Iruka Umino, Naruto's teacher, has decided that for the meantime, Naruto be assigned a private ANBU sensei, until the rest of his age bracket graduate from the Academy, of course he will be granted the genin level, and he and his sensei will be allowed to take missions, but this will have to be someone who can teach Naruto and help him grow, preferably your youngest ANBU." Sarutobi explained. Osamu's eyes widened, he knew Naruto was smart, but he had not been aware he was that smart.

"Hokage-sama, would I be able to suggest that instead a tokubetsu jounin be assigned to Naruto instead of an ANBU, Naruto will recognize most of them, so a special jounin would be better, preferably one of the ones that was on the fourth Hokage protection squad." He recommended. Sarutobi thought it over for a short amount of time before conceding with a nod.

"I will have a rotation of jounin assigned to Naruto, I was thinking Genma Shirabuki and Raido Namiashi, along with Anko Mitarashi and Hayate Gekko." He suggested. Osamu's eyebrows raised promptly raise but he conceded with a nod.

The black haired captain talked with Hiruzen Sarutobi slightly longer, before he left to pick up Naruto. When he got there, the small bond was clutching a Konoha forehead protector in his hand and was smiling at it properly. He smiled at his adopted son and led him home to the ANBU headquarters.

**Tokubetsu jounin – special jounin**

**Kage Bunshin No Jutsu – shadow clone jutsu **

**ANBU – Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai – Special Assassination and tactical squad**

**Ok so in this story things will be explained, Sasuke is not going to be hunting Itachi in this, it wont be Itachi that kills the Uchiha clan. I also need suggestions for a ship. This will ****NOT ****be a NaruSaku or NaruHina story.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry about the lateness of this update, I was going through a rough time, then it was christmas, then it was exams so I did not have time to write, but m next semester is a lot easier, so I am hoping to update a lot more often now.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, but I do own the plot.**

"_I will have a rotation of jounin assigned to Naruto, I was thinking Genma Shirabuki and Raido Namiashi, along with Anko Mitarashi and Hayate Gekko." He suggested. Osamu's eyebrows raised promptly raise but he conceded with a nod._

_The black haired captain talked with Hiruzen Sarutobi slightly longer, before he left to pick up Naruto. When he got there, the small bond was clutching a Konoha forehead protector in his hand and was smiling at it proudly. He smiled at his adopted son and led him home to the ANBU headquarters. _

Genma sighed as he was called into the Hokage's office, his last mission hadn't been all that successful, and he suspected he would be getting punished for it. The senbon wielding shinobi was surprised when he walked into the office to see three other of the special Jounin already there. 'Another mission?' he immediately thought. Sarutobi gestured for Genma to sit down and he obeyed, waiting for the Hokage to begin speaking.

"The four of you have been chosen for a very special mission, as you all know Minato Namikaze had a son, this boy was adopted by the head of ANBU, Osamu Ito, the boy has been proven to be a real genius, and I want the four of you to teach him, it will be a rotation of you four. Anko, you will work on ninjutsu with the boy. Hayate I want you to work on kenjutsu. Raido you are to work on chakra control and genjutsu. And finally, Genma, you are to work on taijutsu and fuinjutsu with him." The Hokage looked at them expectantly.

"Hokage-sama, do you have any specific material for us to work with him on?" Genma asked and the Hokage smiled. "We have all the scrolls Minato wrote about his jutsus, along with books on chakra control and Kushina's explanation of the Uzumaki Kekkei Genkai. I also want Raido and Genma to try and teach him the flying Raijin technique."

For the first time in his life Genma was left speechless. The Shiranui knew Yondaime Hokage had a son, but not that his son was this advanced. The last time tokubetsu jounin had been asked to teach a genin was when one of the Uchiha's had unlocked their kekkei genkai very early and it was causing them damage.

"Sir, who is Minato-sensei's son?" Raido asked, this was the last link they had to the man who had been like a brother to them. Genma and Raido, along with Iwashi Tatami had been part of the fourth Hokage's protection squad, the older blond had always been kind to them, but then again that could be just Minato-sensei.

"His name is Naruto Uzumaki." Hiruzen Sarutobi told them. Simultaneously four pairs of eyes widened. "The jinchuuriki?" Anko said, astounded. Everyone hated the young jinchuuriki, so why did someone adopt him? How did he get this smart, the academy was ordered not to teach him.

"Sir, If it is Naruto, then why are we teaching him, he should be in the academy." Anko muttered to him. The Hokage smiled at them. "Yes, he should be, but Osamu has had Naruto for a while and has been teaching him, so he graduated today, he progressed to fast." He replied, from the corner of his eye he saw Genma smile. "Well he is Minato-sensei's son, and if Kurenai was his mother then he will be very strong."

"I don't even know if we know the true potential the boy has, the closest we could compare him to would be Itachi or Shusui Uchiha." Hiruzen said and the jounin's eyes widened. "He has hat much potential?" Anko asked. Hiruzen nodded. "I think I am going to go see if I can track down a member of the Uzumaki clan, I remember Kushina telling me there were some of them out there." The hokage mused to himself.

"Will Naruto be made an ANBU?" Raido asked, the scarred jounin had his eyebrows furrowed deep in concentration. Hiruzen shook his head. "I want to train him more before he becomes an ANBU, let him live his life as a child." The old man said. "You are dismissed, I suggest you head over to the ANBU headquarters and introduce yourself to him, and establish a training regime with Osamu." The hokage said and the four tokubetsu jounin shunsined out of the office.

**At ANBU headquarters**

Osamu and Naruto were having dinner in the private condo that the captain owned. Naruto was smiling and talking a mile a minute, while somehow still managing to ingest his food. Osamu smiled over his bowl of rice. "Naruto, what do you want to do when you are older?" The ANBU captain asked. The small blond smiled widely. "I want to become the head of the ANBU, just like you tou-san." He said as he looked up at his adoptive father with pride. Osamu smiled at him and kept eating. 'And you will be able to do it.' He thought to himself.

A large chakra flare went up that sent Osamu on high alert. The anbu captain stood up and slipped his mask and cloak on. Naruto shivered at the feeling of the charka that had been released. Osamu shunshined out of the room and down to the training field where the flare had come from. Seeing it was no threat he came back and picked up Naruto before using the body-flicker technique again to bring him out.

"Naruto, these are the jounin that have been assigned to. This is Genma Shiranui, he used to be one of the Hokages personal guards, along with Raido Namiashi." Osamu pointed to both of the shinobi who grinned at Naruto. "This lady is Anko Mitarashi, she works with the torture and interrogation department of anbu, and is a ninjutsu specialist. And finally we have Hayate Gekko, one of Konoha's best kenjutsu users." Osamu concluded. Naruto smiled widely at the group of jounin.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, I hope I can progress quickly." Naruto said politely, the gathered jounin's eyes widened, the boy was happy and polite, but they could also sense the power coming from him. "Osamu, who has he trained with previously?" Anko asked, looking down at the blond with calculating eyes.

"He has trained with myself, Kakashi Hatake, and Shunshin no Shisui." Osamu said and the jounins eyes widened. "What do they want us to do? He has had three of Konoha's most promising shinobi." Anko muttered dumbfounded.

"On to the training schedule." Hayate said, stepping forth. "We will be here at 0700h everymorning, you will work on Taijutsu with Genma for an hour, The with me on Kenjutsu for another hour. Next, you will work with Raido on Genjutsu and chakra control for 2 hours; then there will be a lunch break. At 1200h you will begin a 2 hour session with Anko on ninjutsu, then another hour of kenjutsu with me, and hour of fuinjutsu with Genma again, then, if you still have energy, one of us will bring you on a mission." The sword wielding shinobi explained. Naruto's eyes widened at the intense training schedule before he nodded readily.

"For now, how about we just sit and get to know eachother, that way Osamu-Taichou can get some work done." Genma suggested as he sat down in the training field. Naruto smiled and sat down also, followed by the rest of the tokubetsu Jounin. "I will see you soon Naruto, remember to be inside before 2100h." Osamu said before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

"So, why don't you tell us a bit about yourself, jutsu's you can do, dreams, things you like, things you don't like." Raido suggested. Naruto thought for a minute. "Well I can do a lot of jutsus, I can use the shadow clone technique and shunshin jutsu. I can also do the fireball technique, and the headhunter jutsu. My dream is that I want to become the head of Anbu, just like tou-san. I like training and trying to unlock the Uzumaki kekkei genkai. I don't like lazy people, or people who solely rely on the fact that they are a prodigy." Naruto said, for what seemed to be the millionth time that day the tokubetsu jounin's eyes widened.

"So do you know your natural affinity?" Anko asked, this was a question that was only really important to her. Naruto smiled. "I have two affinities, fire and wind." He stated proudly, the two previous hokage's guards smiled. 'He reminds me of Minato-sensei.' Genma thought.

"Well, my name is Anko Mitarashi, I am a fire type, I like dango and working in T&I, and I also don't like lazy people." The purple haired jounin said with a small smirk. She gestured for Genma to continue.

"My name is Genma Shiranui, I am mostly a taijutsu and weapons specialist, though I do know quite a lot about various kinds of jutsu, I like training I guess, and I dislike loud things." The brown haired shinobi gestured for Raido to continue.

"My name is Raido Namiashi, I will be your genjutsu and charka sensei, I like the quiet, and I do not like arrogant people." The scarred jounin said with a pointed look at Genma and Anko. Hayate took this as his queue to speak. "My name is Hayate Gekko, I am a kenjutsu specialist, I like training and sweet food, I dislike spicy or sour food." He said. Once introductions were made Anko asked Naruto to perform one of his jutsus so that she could judge his chakra levels. Naruto stood up and walked away from the group before thinking for a moment.

Naruto lept into the air and swiftly made hand signs. "Fire style: Fire ball jutsu!" He called and release a large ball of fire from his mouth. Anko smiled and nodded in approval. After the rest of the jounin testing Naruto's abilities, they left and Naruto trudged up to his room. "Good night tou-san." He called before falling into bed and going to sleep.


End file.
